Sale of Goods Act 1979

I thought that I would share the following template of letter relating to returning faulty goods where the seller asks you to pay for the return postage:

Dear (company name) Reference: Contract number (E Bay Item No)

I have discovered that the (item) has the following problems:

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 makes it an implied term of the contract that goods be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. Any returns policy that says I have to cover the cost of returning items must only relate to the situation where I change my mind about the item ordered and not where there is a problem with the item. I should not lose out financially as a result of your breach of contract and accordingly all costs of returning the item(s) should be met by you.

I also require you to confirm whether you will arrange for the (item) to be collected or will reimburse me for the cost of returning it.

When you buy goods from a private individual, you don't have the same rights as when buying from a trader. The legal principle of caveat emptor, or 'buyer beware', operates. You have no right to expect that goods are of satisfactory quality or fit for their purpose but there is a requirement that they should be as described. You should check goods thoroughly before you buy them.

SECOND HAND GOODS

You have the same rights under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) when you buy second-hand goods as you do when you buy new. However, your expectations relating to satisfactory quality ought to be realistic when buying second-hand goods.

SALE GOODS

You have the same rights under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) when you buy sale goods as you do when you buy them at full price. However, if the goods were reduced in price because of a fault that was either brought to your attention at the time, or if you examined the goods and the defect would have been obvious to you, you would not be able to claim a refund later for that particular fault.

AUCTIONS

You do not always have the same rights when you buy at auction as you would have if you bought from a retailer.

Some goods sold at auction can are excluded from the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) (subject to a reasonableness test) in relation to satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and description. Notices can be displayed removing these rights, any exclusions must be subject to a reasonableness test. This is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

The rights of consumers when buying new goods cannot be excluded in any auction. The rights of consumers when buying second-hand goods can (subject to a reasonableness test) be excluded or restricted. However, they can only be excluded or restricted where consumers have the opportunity of attending the auction in person.

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

I thought that I would share the following template of letter relating to returning faulty goods where the seller asks you to pay for the return postage:

Dear (company name) Reference: Contract number (E Bay Item No)

I have discovered that the (item) has the following problems:

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 makes it an implied term of the contract that goods be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. Any returns policy that says I have to cover the cost of returning items must only relate to the situation where I change my mind about the item ordered and not where there is a problem with the item. I should not lose out financially as a result of your breach of contract and accordingly all costs of returning the item(s) should be met by you.

I also require you to confirm whether you will arrange for the (item) to be collected or will reimburse me for the cost of returning it.

Good. It's fantasitc you realise your rights BUT this is unenforcable using ebay/PP dispute process. If you insist on this via the dispute process it is highly likely you will lose out on any refunds due to you

These rights are only as good as your ability to enforce them and run as an addition to buyer protection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~You will never persuade me to buy a mobile 'phone on ebay~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

You do not always have the same rights when you buy at auction as you would have if you bought from a retailer.

Some goods sold at auction can are excluded from the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) (subject to a reasonableness test) in relation to satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and description. Notices can be displayed removing these rights, any exclusions must be subject to a reasonableness test. This is covered by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

The rights of consumers when buying new goods cannot be excluded in any auction. The rights of consumers when buying second-hand goods can (subject to a reasonableness test) be excluded or restricted. However, they can only be excluded or restricted where consumers have the opportunity of attending the auction in person.

Whether or not Ebay auctions are true auctions when it comes to Ebay auctions by businesses, has always been arguable but the revised DSRs will make it clear.

(13) "public auction" means a method of sale where goods or services are offered by the trader to consumers, who attend or are given the possibility to attend the auction in person, through a transparent, competitive bidding procedure run by an auctioneer and where the successful bidder is bound to purchase the goods or services;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Be like the twenty second elephant with heated value in space---bark!

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

I also have the same problem. I purchase a tablet recently from a supposedly "High power seller to find this item had no charger.

This clearly is in breach of the S O G A. I asked for a refund and was advised to return with me paying for postage. I intend to take my complaint to Trading Standards office and I will be sending an email to the BBC Watch dog programme re this.

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

Sigh, really, this again?Yes, it is true, yes it is fact, yes ebay d not make that statement but nor do they enforce it - so make of that what you wishThe seller must fully comply, not ebay but we all know, well at least most of is do, that ebay cannot enforce these conditions and no buyer has ever won a dispute by insisting the seller collects the item as they cannot provide a tracking number

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~You will never persuade me to buy a mobile 'phone on ebay~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

silkenrobe wrote:As bank says, of course, but it won't win you the dispute process, for that you follow ebay rulesIf after that you wish to enforce your legal rights, you do that outside of ebays buyer protection

I must add to that by pointing out that where purchases from a private seller are concerned, Ebay's Money Back guarantee in the vast majority of cases, gives far greater protection than the law provides.

I suspect that most successful SNAD claims from private sellers would never succeed in court where the 'S' in SNAD really does mean significant.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Be like the twenty second elephant with heated value in space---bark!

I must add to that by pointing out that where purchases from a private seller are concerned, Ebay's Money Back guarantee in the vast majority of cases, gives far greater protection than the law provides.

It seems Act 1979 covers more tahn 45 days.

According to Sales of Good act

Customers’ rights last for six yearsThe law says that a customer can approach you with aclaim about an item they purchased from you for up to six yearsfrom the date of sale (five years after discovery of the problemin Scotland).This does not mean that everything you sell has to last six years from the date of purchase! It is the time limit for thecustomer to make a claim about an item. During this period,you are legally required to deal with a customer who claimsthat their item does not conform to contract (is faulty) andyou must decide what would be the reasonable amount oftime to expect the goods to last. A customer cannot hold you responsible for fair wear and tear.The six year period is not the same as a guarantee, but it doesmean that even where the guarantee or warranty suppliedwith the product has ended, your customer may still havelegal rights.

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

Where sales by private sellers are concerned there are no implied terms as to quality, fitness for purpose, etc. only that the item should comply with it's description so SoGA would largely be irrelevant hence Ebay's MBG giving better protection.

The 6 year period is one in which a claim can be made, whether or not a claim is possible/successful would depend on relevant circumstances and the nature of the item.

What is often missed is that any refund after the buyer has had the goods for a time, can be reduced to take into account the use the buyer has made of the product.

There is a further complication which will arise when the revised DSRs come into effect in that where the seller whose sales are subject to the Regs, does not give a legal period in which the buyer can cancel the contract, the right of cancellation will extend up to 12 months.

If in that time the goods become faulty the buyer could cancel the contract and expect a full refund, the seller's only possible action would be a counterclaim for loss due to the buyer not taking reasonable care of the goods but they would have to prove that loss.

It will be very important for sellers to make sure they comply.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Be like the twenty second elephant with heated value in space---bark!

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

I wanted toshare this as too many sellers are asking buyers to pay return postage on faulty goods.

I recently bought a dashboard camera which turned out to be faulty and the seller wanted me to pay £5:00p for return postage. (originally asked for £10:00p). Why should buyer pay to return faulty goods.

Re: Sale of Goods Act 1979

Sigh, really, this again?Yes, it is true, yes it is fact, yes ebay d not make that statement but nor do they enforce it - so make of that what you wishThe seller must fully comply, not ebay but we all know, well at least most of is do, that ebay cannot enforce these conditions and no buyer has ever won a dispute by insisting the seller collects the item as they cannot provide a tracking number

would you like to try again as your post contains various typo's and is nonsensical

and in case of doubt i will repeat my post below:

silkenrobe wrote: "...It's fantasitc you realise your rights BUT this is unenforcable using ebay/PP dispute process.

it won't win you the dispute process, for that you follow ebay rules..."

i wrote: are these statements of fact?

as ebay do not make that statement

which can either mean you misrepresent ebay or ebay do not, as you say, fully comply